JP7570938B2 - Manufacturing method of instant noodles - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for producing instant noodles with reduced sodium content.

In recent years, many so-called low-salt products with reduced sodium content have been launched on the market to prevent high blood pressure. In the 2010 edition of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's "Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese," the daily salt intake target was less than 9g for adult men and less than 7.5g for adult women, whereas in the 2015 edition of the "Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese," the daily salt intake target was less than 8g for adult men and less than 7g for adult women, and in the 2020 edition, the daily salt intake target was less than 7.5g for adult men and less than 6.5g for adult women. As the daily salt intake target values have been reduced, it is expected that the trend toward reduced salt intake will continue to increase in the future.

Technologies for reducing salt in noodles are disclosed, for example, in Patent Documents 1 to 6.

Patent Document 1 describes a technology for udon noodles that have sufficient firmness even with less salt added than before, in which udon noodles contain wheat flour, a thickening composition, and water, and the thickening composition contains xanthan gum, roasted bean gum, and guar gum.

Patent Document 2 describes noodles containing either isomaltulose or reduced isomaltulose or both, as well as a method for producing noodles with reduced or zero content of sodium salts, particularly salt and sodium carbonate.

Patent Document 3 describes a method for producing salt-free noodles that uses magnesium chloride, which is contained in nigari, without adding salt.

Patent documents 4 to 6 describe instant noodle technologies that reduce salt content by adding potassium lactate. These technologies are superior to existing technologies in terms of noodle production properties, texture, and flavor when it comes to reducing salt content, but adding more potassium lactate to increase the saltiness makes the noodle taste bitter, the texture becomes soft, and noodle production properties deteriorate, so there are still challenges to overcome in order to obtain better noodle production properties and texture, as well as a salty taste that resembles table salt.

JP 2015-84772 A Patent No. 4644298 Patent No. 4761534 Patent No. 6353499 Patent No. 6334623 JP 2019-140963 A

The present invention aims to provide a method for producing instant noodles with excellent noodle production properties, texture, and salty taste, and with reduced sodium.

The inventors developed this invention as a result of extensive research into the salt reduction technology of adding potassium lactate in order to achieve a texture and saltiness that is closer to that of table salt.

That is, it is a method for producing instant noodles that includes the steps of kneading a main ingredient flour with kneading water to prepare dough, preparing noodle strands from the prepared dough, and drying the noodle strands, and is characterized in that the kneading water does not contain salt and contains 8 to 40 g of potassium lactate, 1 to 5 g of glutamate, and 0.5 to 3 g of gluconate per 1 kg of the main ingredient flour.

The present invention provides a method for producing instant noodles with excellent noodle production properties, texture, and salty taste, and with reduced sodium.

The present invention will be described in detail below. However, the present invention is not limited to the following description.

1. Raw Material Blending Examples of the main raw material flour used in the production of fried noodles according to the present invention include cereal flours such as wheat flour (including durum flour), buckwheat flour, barley flour, and rice flour, as well as various starches such as potato starch, tapioca starch, and corn starch, and these may be used alone or in combination. As the starch, raw starch, pregelatinized starch, and processed starches such as acetylated starch, etherified starch, and crosslinked starch can also be used.

In the present invention, 8 to 40 g of potassium lactate is dissolved in the kneading water and added per 1 kg of the main raw material flour. If the amount of potassium lactate is less than 8 g, the dough will lack extensibility and viscoelasticity, making it difficult to obtain sufficient noodle-making properties, a springy texture, and a sufficient salty taste. If the amount of potassium lactate added alone exceeds 20 g, the noodle will become sticky, the noodle-making properties will deteriorate, and the texture will become soft, but in the present invention, the noodle-making properties and texture are improved by adding sodium glutamate, making it possible to add up to 40 g of potassium lactate.

In the present invention, 1 to 5 g of glutamate is dissolved in the kneading water and added to 1 kg of the main raw material flour. Examples of glutamate include sodium glutamate and potassium glutamate. In particular, sodium glutamate is used as an umami seasoning, and is also used as a material for the flavoring liquid for instant noodles. However, it is rarely added to the kneading water, and in situations where a large amount of salt is added to the kneading water, the effect of glutamate in improving noodle-making properties and texture cannot be known. The effect of glutamate in improving noodle-making properties and texture was discovered for the first time when reducing salt. In addition, unlike potassium lactate, glutamate has the effect of tightening the texture with the addition of a small amount, so that deterioration of the texture can be prevented even when a large amount of potassium lactate is added. If the amount is less than 1 g, it is difficult to obtain sufficient noodle-making properties and texture improvement effects, and if the amount is more than 5 g, the texture becomes too hard and the taste of glutamate becomes strong. Of the glutamates, monosodium glutamate is superior in terms of flavor, but because it contains sodium, potassium glutamate can be used to further reduce salt as long as it does not affect the flavor.

Furthermore, in the present invention, 0.5 to 3 g of a gluconate such as sodium gluconate or potassium gluconate is added per 1 kg of main raw material flour. The gluconate may be either a sodium salt or a potassium salt, but potassium salt is preferable in terms of reducing sodium. Adding gluconate alone has almost no effect on improving noodle production properties, and is weaker than glutamate in improving texture and enhancing saltiness, but it is possible to mask the bitterness caused by adding a large amount of potassium lactate and obtain a salty flavor. If the amount is less than 0.5 g, it is difficult to obtain a flavor improvement effect, and if the amount exceeds 3 g, not only will the texture become hard, but the taste of gluconate will become too strong.

As other auxiliary ingredients, in the present invention, alkaline agents, phosphates, various thickeners, noodle quality improvers, edible oils and fats, pH adjusters, various dyes such as carotene dyes, preservatives, and the like that are commonly used in the production of instant noodles can be added. These may be added together with the main ingredient flour, or may be added dissolved or suspended in the kneading water. Salt is not used in the production of noodles except for use as a noodle flavoring liquid. Furthermore, when alkaline agents such as carbonates or phosphates are added, adding sodium salts does not have a significant effect on salt reduction because the sodium content is low, but in order to further reduce salt, it is preferable to avoid using sodium salts as much as possible and to use potassium salts instead.

2. Kneading process The noodle dough (dough) according to the present invention can be prepared in the usual manner. That is, the noodle raw material flour and kneading water can be kneaded so that they are uniformly mixed using a batch mixer, flow jet mixer, vacuum mixer or the like to produce a crumbly dough.

3. Noodle-making process Next, noodle strands are produced from the prepared dough. The production method may be a conventional method, and examples include a method in which the dough is made into a coarse noodle band using a roll, then formed into a noodle band by compounding or the like, and further rolled multiple times using a roll to obtain a predetermined noodle band thickness, and then the noodle band is cut out using a cutting roll called a cutting blade to produce noodle strands. Alternatively, a noodle band may be produced using an extruder, and then rolled and cut out, or a plurality of noodle bands may be combined to produce a noodle band having a multi-layer structure, and then rolled and cut out.

4. Steaming process If necessary, the raw noodle strands obtained in the noodle-making process are steamed by a conventional method to gelatinize the noodle strands. The preferred steaming conditions vary depending on the type of noodle and the thickness of the noodle, so the preferred conditions can be set appropriately according to the desired texture. As for the steaming method, not only boiling or heating with saturated steam but also heating with superheated steam can be used, and a hydration process such as showering or soaking can also be combined. If necessary, the cooked noodles can be soaked in a seasoning liquid or a loosening agent can be added.

5. Drying process In the case of fried noodles, the noodle strands are cut into one serving, weighed, and packed into a container called a drying retainer, where they are fried and dried. The drying temperature is preferably 140 to 160°C. The dried noodles should be dried so that the moisture content after drying is 1.5 to 5% by weight.

In the case of non-fried noodles, the noodle strands are cut into serving sizes, weighed, and packed into a container called a drying retainer, after which they can be dried by a known method such as hot air drying, high-temperature hot air drying, superheated steam drying, or microwave drying. Drying using hot air such as hot air drying or high-temperature hot air drying is common, and drying is preferably performed at a drying temperature of 60 to 150°C and at a wind speed of 1 to 70 m/s. The drying process may be performed under a combination of multiple conditions, and the noodles should be dried so that the moisture content after drying is 14.5% by weight or less.

6. Other processes <br/>The dried noodles are then packed into cups or bags with soup and ingredients as needed, and sold as instant noodles.

As described above, by producing noodles using a kneading water in which 8 to 40 g of potassium lactate, 1 to 5 g of sodium glutamate, and 0.5 to 3 g of gluconate are dissolved per 1 kg of main raw material flour without using salt in the kneading water, it is possible to provide a method for producing instant noodles with reduced sodium and excellent noodle production properties, texture, and salty taste. The present embodiment will be described in more detail below with reference to examples.

<Experiment 1: Study with fried noodles>
(Example 1-1)
A kneading water prepared by dissolving 10.2 g of 78% potassium lactate aqueous solution (8 g as potassium lactate), 2.2 g of kansui preparation (sodium carbonate 6: potassium carbonate 4), 2.0 g of sodium glutamate, and 1.0 g of potassium gluconate in 347.8 g of water was added to a main ingredient flour consisting of 1000 g of medium strength flour, and the mixture was mixed for 15 minutes in a normal pressure mixer to prepare a noodle dough.

The dough was rolled into a coarse noodle band and combined to produce a noodle band. The noodle band was then rolled out to a final noodle band thickness of 1.1 mm, and cut into noodle strings using a No. 18 round cutting blade roll.

Next, the noodles were steamed for 2 minutes in a steamer with saturated steam at 250 kg/h to gelatinize the noodles.

The gelatinized noodle strings were folded in half and packed into a frying retainer (container) at 110 g per serving, then dried at 150°C for 2 minutes and 30 seconds to obtain a fried noodle sample with a moisture content of 2% by weight.

(Example 1-2)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to Example 1-1, except that the amount of potassium lactate aqueous solution added was 19 g (15 g as potassium lactate) and the amount of water added was 346 g.

(Examples 1 to 3)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to Example 1-1, except that the amount of potassium lactate added was 32 g (25 g as potassium lactate) and the amount of water added was 343 g.

(Examples 1 to 4)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to Example 1-1, except that the amount of potassium lactate added was 51.2 g (40 g as potassium lactate) and the amount of water added was 338.8 g.

(Examples 1 to 5)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to Example 1-3, except that the amount of sodium glutamate added was 1 g.

(Examples 1 to 6)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to the procedure of Example 1-3, except that the amount of sodium glutamate added was 3 g.

(Examples 1 to 7)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to the procedure of Example 1-3, except that the amount of sodium glutamate added was 5 g.

(Examples 1 to 8)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to the procedure of Example 1-3, except that the added amounts of sodium glutamate and potassium glutamate were 1 g and 1.6 g, respectively.

(Examples 1 to 9)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to Example 1-3, except that the amount of potassium gluconate added was 0.5 g.

(Examples 1 to 10)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to Example 1-3, except that the amount of potassium gluconate added was 3 g.

(Examples 1 to 11)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to Example 1-3, except that the amount of sodium gluconate added was 1 g.

(Comparative Example 1-1)
A kneading solution prepared by dissolving 16 g of salt and 2.2 g of an alkaline water preparation (sodium carbonate 6: potassium carbonate 4) in 350 g of water was added to a main ingredient flour consisting of 1000 g of all-purpose flour, and the mixture was mixed in a normal pressure mixer for 15 minutes to prepare a noodle dough. The remaining steps in the process were the same as in Example 1-1 to prepare a fried noodle sample.

(Comparative Example 1-2)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to the method of Comparative Example 1-1, except that no salt was added.

(Comparative Example 1-3)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to the method of Example 1-1, except that sodium glutamate and potassium gluconate were not added.

(Comparative Examples 1 to 4)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to the method of Example 1-2, except that sodium glutamate and potassium gluconate were not added.

(Comparative Example 1-5)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to the method of Example 1-3, except that sodium glutamate and potassium gluconate were not added.

(Comparative Example 1-6)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to the method of Example 1-4, except that sodium glutamate and potassium gluconate were not added.

(Comparative Example 1-7)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to the method of Example 1-3, except that potassium gluconate was not added.

(Comparative Example 1-8)
A fried noodle sample was prepared according to the method of Example 1-3, except that sodium glutamate was not added.

The noodle production properties of each test group in Experiment 1 and the texture of the noodles after cooking were evaluated using Comparative Example 1-1 as the standard. Noodle production properties were rated as follows: equivalent to Comparative Example 1-1: 5; slightly inferior to Comparative Example 1-1 but good: 4; inferior to Comparative Example 1-1 but possible for continuous machine production: 3; inferior to Comparative Example 1-1 and possible for continuous machine production due to noodle band breakage: 2; and significantly inferior to Comparative Example 1-1 and clearly unable to be used for continuous machine production: 1.

Sensory tests were performed by cooking and eating each sample. The fried noodle samples were cooked by placing them in 500 ml of boiling water and boiling them in a pot for 3 minutes. The evaluation was performed by five experienced panelists, and in terms of texture, samples that were elastic and good, similar to Comparative Example 1-1, were given a rating of 5; samples that were slightly more or less elastic than Comparative Example 1-1 but generally good, were given a rating of 4; samples that were more or less elastic than Comparative Example 1-1 but acceptable as a product, were given a rating of 3; samples that were too elastic or too weak compared to Comparative Example 1-1 and therefore unacceptable as a product, were given a rating of 2; and samples that were significantly more or too weak compared to Comparative Example 1-1 and therefore unacceptable as a product, were given a rating of 1.

The saltiness was also evaluated based on the strength of the saltiness and the unpleasant aftertaste (harshness or bitterness). The strength of the saltiness was given a rating of 4 if it was the same as Comparative Example 1-1, a rating of 5 if it was stronger than Comparative Example 1-1, a rating of 3 if it was slightly weaker than Comparative Example 1-1 but acceptable as a product, a rating of 2 if it was weaker than Comparative Example 1-1 and unacceptable as a product, and a rating of 1 if it had almost no saltiness (same as Comparative Example 1-2).

Regarding the unpleasant aftertaste (bitterness or astringency), using Comparative Example 1-1 as the standard, products that were equivalent and had no unpleasant aftertaste were rated 5, products that had a slight bitterness or astringency but were acceptable were rated 4, products that had a bitterness or astringency but were acceptable as a product were rated 3, products that had a strong bitterness or astringency and were unacceptable as a product were rated 2, and products that had an extremely bitterness or astringency and were ineligible for consumption were rated 1.

The noodle making properties and sensory evaluation results for each test group in Experiment 1 are shown in Table 1 below.

As shown in Comparative Examples 1-2 to 1-6, when salt was not added to the kneading water, the addition of potassium lactate increased the saltiness of the noodles. However, once the amount added to the main ingredient flour reached 15g, the noodles began to become sticky and deteriorated, the texture became soft, and the bitter taste unique to potassium lactate became more pronounced.

In contrast, as shown in Examples 1-1 to 1-4, by adding glutamate and gluconate to the kneading water in addition to potassium lactate, fried noodles with excellent saltiness as well as noodle-making properties and texture were obtained compared to the same amount of potassium lactate added. In particular, when a small amount of potassium lactate was added, not only were the noodle-making properties and texture improved, but the saltiness was also improved, and when a large amount of potassium lactate was added, the effects of suppressing the deterioration of noodle-making properties and softening of the texture, as well as the bitterness of potassium lactate were observed. In the present invention, the amount of potassium lactate added is preferably 8 to 40 g per 1 kg of main ingredient flour, since the smaller the amount added, the weaker the saltiness, and the greater the amount added, the stronger the bitterness of potassium lactate as well as the noodle-making properties and texture.

As shown in Examples 1-3 and 1-5 to 1-7, when the amount of monosodium glutamate added is small, the effect of improving noodle-making properties and texture and the strength of the salty taste weakens, while when the amount of monosodium glutamate added is too large, not only does the dough become hard, leading to poor noodle-making properties and a hard texture, but the bitterness of monosodium glutamate also becomes noticeable. Furthermore, as shown in Example 1-8, the same effect was observed when part of the monosodium glutamate was replaced with potassium glutamate. Therefore, it is considered that the amount of glutamate added in this invention is preferably 1 to 5 g per 1 kg of main raw material flour.

As shown in Examples 1-3 and 1-9 to 1-10, if the amount of potassium gluconate added is small, the effect of masking the bitterness of potassium lactate is weak, and if too much is added, the dough becomes hard, as with monosodium glutamate, the noodle making properties become poor, the texture becomes hard, and the bitterness of potassium gluconate becomes noticeable. Furthermore, as shown in Example 1-11, the same effect was observed when sodium was used instead of potassium gluconate. Therefore, it is considered that the amount of gluconate to be added in this invention is preferably 0.5 to 3 g per 1 kg of main raw material flour.

<Experiment 2: Study with non-fried noodles>
(Example 2-1)
A main raw material flour consisting of 950 g of wheat flour and 50 g of acetylated tapioca starch was added to a kneading water prepared by dissolving 32 g of 78% potassium lactate aqueous solution (25 g as potassium lactate), 2.0 g of sodium glutamate, 1.0 g of potassium gluconate, 3 g of trisodium phosphate, 1 g of sodium pyrophosphate, and 0.4 g of a tocopherol preparation in 343 g of water, and the mixture was mixed for 15 minutes in a normal pressure mixer to prepare a noodle dough.

The dough was rolled into a coarse noodle band and combined to produce a noodle band. The noodle band was then rolled out to a final noodle band thickness of 0.9 mm, and cut into noodle strings using a No. 26 round cutting blade roll.

Next, the noodles were steamed for 2 minutes and 30 seconds in a steamer using saturated steam at 270 kg/h to gelatinize the noodles.

The gelatinized noodle strings were immersed in a loosening liquid made by dissolving 12 g of soybean dietary fiber, 4 g of sodium glutamate, and 1 g of emulsified oil in water and measuring out to 1 L, then cut into approximately 30 cm pieces, which were then packed into a retainer to make 120 g per serving, and dried at 70°C for 50 minutes to obtain a non-fried noodle sample with a moisture content of 7% by weight.

(Comparative Example 2-1)
A non-fried noodle sample was produced in the same manner as in Example 2-1, except that a kneading water prepared by dissolving 15 g of salt, 3 g of trisodium phosphate, 1 g of sodium pyrophosphate, and 0.4 g of a tocopherol preparation in 350 g of water was added to a main raw material flour consisting of 950 g of wheat flour and 50 g of acetylated tapioca starch, and mixing was carried out for 15 minutes in a normal pressure mixer to prepare a noodle dough.

(Comparative Example 2-2)
A non-fried noodle sample was produced as described in Example 2-1, except that sodium glutamate and potassium gluconate were not added.

Experiment 2 was evaluated in the same way as Experiment 1. However, for the cooking method, the noodle sample and powdered soup were placed in a cup-shaped foam paper cup container, 380 ml of boiling water was added, the lid was placed, and the sample was cooked for 3 minutes, eaten, and the texture and flavor were evaluated. The noodle production properties and texture were evaluated based on Comparative Example 2-1. The noodle production properties and sensory evaluation results for each test group in Experiment 2 are shown in Table 2 below.

As shown in Experiment 2, even in non-fried noodles, the addition of glutamate and gluconate in addition to potassium lactate prevents the deterioration of noodle production properties and softening of the texture caused by stickiness that occurs when a large amount of potassium lactate is added to enhance the saltiness, enhances the saltiness, and masks the bitterness of potassium lactate.

Claims (1)

The main ingredient flour,
A step of kneading the dough with kneading water to prepare a dough;
preparing noodle strings from the prepared dough;
and drying the noodle strings.
The mixing water does not contain salt,
1. A method for producing instant noodles, wherein the kneading water contains 8 to 40 g of potassium lactate, 1 to 5 g of glutamate, and 0.5 to 3 g of gluconate per 1 kg of the main raw material flour.